Quote of the day: The plutocratic end game

From UC Berkeley prof and former Secdretary of Labor Robert Reich, writing at his blog:

The concentration of power at the top — which flows largely from the concentration of income and wealth there — has prevented Washington from dealing with the problems of the poor and the middle class.

To the contrary, as wealth has accumulated at the top, Washington has reduced taxes on the wealthy, expanded tax loopholes that disproportionately benefit the rich, deregulated Wall Street, and provided ever larger subsidies, bailouts, and tax breaks for large corporations. The only things that have trickled down to the middle and poor besides fewer jobs and smaller paychecks are public services that are increasingly inadequate because they’re starved for money.

Unequal political power is the endgame of widening inequality — its most noxious and nefarious consequence, and the most fundamental threat to our democracy. Big money has now all but engulfed Washington and many state capitals — drowning out the voices of average Americans, filling the campaign chests of candidates who will do their bidding, financing attacks on organized labor, and bankrolling a vast empire of right-wing think-tanks and publicists that fill the airwaves with half-truths and distortions.

2 responses to “Quote of the day: The plutocratic end game”

Big money is one thing Democrats and Republicans have in common. partisanship works to their advantage, divide and conquer. Through out a few scrapes and some red meat social issues now and then to keep the people distracted and fighting among ourselves, While they do the bidding of their masters on Wall St. and such.